June 5, 2008

Game changing, son - not sure what else needs to be said about De La's 1989 debut. In a genre where original expression is king, this album redefined rap's role in projecting cultural positivity while presenting a radical style and format change from everything released at the time (or since). Homeys also invented the now-standard hip hop skit along the way.Most notably, Prince Paul built a name for himself here by permanently upping the creativity bar for sampling (even though The Turtles later sued them and won). You might have already recognized some of the more obvious samples like Hall & Oates in "Say No Go," but PP slipped in 75 other classic cold BBQ cuts you can check out and download over at Kevin Nottingham's hip hop sample emporium.

Sample issues will keep this album from iTunes for the near future, but it's worth picking up from Amazon no question. Some people call this the critical/commercial peak of De La/Prince Paul - what's your top De La rekkid?